Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17723 on 17 May 2023. Parliament will be updated once the review has completed. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

This is a matter for individual private and public organisations as the Scottish Government is not part of any public-private partnerships directly developing heat networks in Scotland. Other public bodies may be part of public-private heat network delivery partnerships but this information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Therefore, the Scottish Government is not in a position to answer this question accurately.

I approved this decision as Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights.

For the reasons behind this decision, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19607 on 28 July 2023 . All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Healthcare professionals working in primary care settings play a vital role in the delivery of the national mission to reduce drug deaths and improve lives. The Scottish Government encourages these professionals to engage with the range of training opportunities available on drug use.

The Scottish Government provides funding to NHS Health Boards and a proportion of this funding is allocated for education and training. It is the responsibility of each Health Board to decide how this funding is allocated for staff training.

Scottish Government has, in previous years, provided funding to the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) to deliver the Management of Problem Drug Use certificate. This is a multi-disciplinary course aimed at professionals working with people who use drugs across primary care settings, and beyond, including General Practitioners (GPs), pharmacists, nurses, prison healthcare staff, and individuals in third-sector.

Scottish Government has agreed to provide further funding, over the next three years, to support continued delivery of the certificate.

Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme

The following table sets out the number of households who have received funding through the HES Grant and Loan Scheme (formerly HES Loan and Cashback Scheme) for solar PV/energy storage systems where not installed with a certified renewable heating or energy efficiency measure. These figures include instances where solar PV/energy storage systems have been installed alongside an existing renewable heating system.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19607 on 28 July 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The requested figures for live applications for loans for standalone solar PV/energy storage systems not being installed as part of a package including a certified renewable heating system are set out in the following table. These applications were submitted prior to the change in funding on 27 June 2023, and are being processed by Energy Saving Trust, the scheme administrator.

The Scottish Government is committed to a just transition to net zero, which means working with people, businesses and communities across Scotland to ensure they can access support and advice, and that the costs and benefits of the transition are spread fairly.

Our Public Engagement Strategy for Climate Change sets out our vision: for all of Scotland to understand the challenges we face and embrace their role in our transition to a net zero and climate ready Scotland. Our people-centred approach to climate change policy, moves from encouraging incremental changes in attitudes and behaviours, to supporting a society-wide transformation.

Of particular relevance to SMEs, this year we will publish our new Heat in Buildings Public Engagement Strategy setting out how we will work with a range of partners and wider trusted messengers to increase awareness and understanding of Scotland’s net zero ambitions and associated heat decarbonisation targets with the public and organisations alike. This will include explaining what these changes will mean for property owners on the ground, and how they can access existing advice and support.

The Scottish Government currently funds a substantial service for SMEs to receive advice on reducing their energy costs, installing energy efficiency and renewable heating measures through Business Energy Scotland. In October, we increased the funding available in the SME Loan scheme where SMEs can now apply for a £20,000 cashback grant for energy efficiency measures up to 75% of the cost of the installation.

I have kept Ministerial colleagues fully informed of progress on the deposit return scheme through the normal internal processes. Internal party leadership elections are a matter for the relevant parties themselves.

Information on data quality will be included as part of the first release in autumn 2023.

The changes to the methods for producing census estimates have not fundamentally changed the way in which NRS is quality assuring and validating the data before publication.

Professor James Brown, Professor of Official Statistics Sydney, Chair of the International Steering Group noted: “Decisions were made on a sound methodological basis, providing NRS with a strong position for the statistical processing phase.”

In their Statistical Quality Assurance Strategy , NRS made a distinction between quality assurance at every step of the census data processing journey and validation of final estimates. By assessing quality at each step, NRS can be confident that errors are not being introduced while processing the data.